Free Anybody But Him by Claire Baxter Page A

only come round while I was at work.’
    â€˜Sorry, couldn’t. I’ve been away again.’
    â€˜Again? What do you do with the dog when you go away?’
    â€˜He comes with me. Shall I put these on the table?’ He nodded at the box in his arms. ‘It’s kind of heavy this week. And,’ he said, delving into the box once he’d put it down, ‘I’ve brought you some fresh eggs from Mrs Thompson’s hens so you can have breakfast before you go out.’
    â€˜Why?’
    He frowned as he held out the egg carton. ‘Why what?’
    â€˜Why would you do that for me?’
    He shrugged. ‘I’ll take them away if you don’t want them.’
    â€˜No,’ she said quickly as her stomach rumbled, then added, ‘What do I owe you?’
    He shook his head. ‘Nothing, but you can make me breakfast if you like. I need to do some work out there today.’ He nodded through the back door that she was still holding open. ‘And I left home without eating.’
    â€˜You have to do it today?’
    â€˜Well, yes, because I’ll be off again on Monday, and I need to gather plenty of the leafy greens before they bolt to seed.’
    She gave him a blank look.
    â€˜Plus, I need to start preparing some ground for planting or there will be nothing to pick in summer.’
    â€˜And that’s a problem?’
    â€˜Yes. Una will be back then, won’t she? She’ll be disappointed if there’s nothing to harvest.’
    â€˜Neither of you have heard of supermarkets?’ she muttered as she closed the door. An indignant yap stopped her at the last moment. She opened the door a little way and looked down at Dammit. He stared back at her. After a while, she sighed. How ridiculous was this? She was having a stand-off with a dog, for pity’s sake. She swung the door fully open.
    â€˜All right. Come on in.’ As she turned from the door she caught Blair’s amused expression before he straightened his face. ‘Are you expecting me to make a frittata for breakfast?’
    â€˜That would be great. Thanks for offering.’
    â€˜I didn’t. You presumed on my good nature.’
    He laughed. ‘Your what ? Where have you been hiding that ?’
    She stalked past him to the shelf on the far wall. Una had several recipe books stacked there and she took one down, flipped to the index, scanned it and returned the book to theshelf. She reached for another one.
    â€˜What are you doing?’
    She jumped and snatched her hand back. ‘Don’t creep up on me like that.’
    â€˜Sorry.’ He reached over her shoulder, took down the book she’d been reaching for, and handed it to her. ‘Are you looking for a frittata recipe?’
    â€˜Well, duh.’ That, and trying not to notice how close he was.
    â€˜Do you want me to show you how to make it?’
    She swallowed. ‘I thought you had work to do.’
    â€˜I do, but it won’t take long to show you.’
    â€˜All right, then. I don’t cook, you see.’
    â€˜Cooking is easy.’
    â€˜I didn’t say I couldn’t cook. Of course I could if I wanted to, I said I don’t.’
    â€˜Right. Well, all you do is chop the vegetables, fry them in a pan, beat the eggs with a little milk, pour the eggs over the vegetables and let it cook until it’s nearly set. Then you sprinkle cheese on the top and stick the pan under the grill till it’s puffed up and golden.’
    â€˜Sounds easy.’ And listening to him had made her mouth water. Because she was hungry, not because he was so close she could feel his breath on her shoulder as he talked. She walked over to the box of vegetables and peered inside. ‘What shall I use?’
    â€˜Zucchini, spinach, onion. You can pretty much take your pick.’
    â€˜What’s this?’ She held up a bunch of leaves.
    â€˜Spinach.’ Blair hesitated, looking as if he